Atiku Blasts Osinbajo Over Open Letter On Restructuring

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has again replied Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the debate over restructuring continues.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant said Osinbajo scrambled a response to him because many Nigerians condemned his recent position on restructuring.
In an open letter he personally signed yesterday Osinbajo insisted that restructuring in “whatever shape or form, will not mean much if our political leaders see public resources as an extension of their bank accounts.”
Firing back within few hours, Atiku, in a statement entitled; restructuring is a necessity, not an option, stated that faced with an avalanche of public condemnation for his 360-degree turn on the concept of restructuring, Osinbajo wrote to douse the tension his comments created.
He, however, warned the current vice president not attempt to reverse history by saying that he spoke against “geographic restructuring”.
Atiku wrote: “I have been in the forefront of the discourse on restructuring since the 1995 Abacha Constitutional Conference and to the best of my knowledge, there has not been any term like ‘geographic restructuring’. It is a strange concept, not only because it is not what the restructuring debate is all about, but also because the words of the Vice President, which prompted my response were clear, unambiguous and unequivocal.
“Mr Osinbajo said, “the problem with our country is not a matter of restructuring”. That I disagree with and so do many other Nigerians. If the Vice President has changed his stance, I welcome it, but we should not use one finger to hide behind semantics.
“For the Vice President to say “Alhaji Atiku’s concept of restructuring is understandably vague, because he seeks to cover every aspect of human existence in that definition”, is most unfortunate.
“I have been very clear, detailed, and unambiguous about my ideas for restructuring. At several occasions, including, but not limited to my speeches at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (made in April this year and July 2017, respectively), I gave very clear and concise ideas about administrative, political and economic restructuring as follows:
· Devolution of powers and resources to the states.
· Matching grants from the federal government to the states to help them grow their internally generated revenue position.
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